William Herschel discovered NGC 4420 = H II-23 = h1263 on 24 Jan 1784 (sweep 119) and logged "F, E." His position is 30 sec of RA east and 5' south (positions in his early sweeps often have larger errors) of UGC 7549. He recorded the galaxy again a month later as III-17 and it later received the designation NGC 4409, although JH, who measured an accurate position, suspected it was a duplicate observation. So, NGC 4420 = NGC 4409.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/24/90): moderately bright, moderately large, very elongated N-S, almost even surface brightness, nuclear bulge.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb